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1 <br />Approved <br />CITY OF LINO LAKES <br />ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT <br />ADVISORY COMMITTEE <br />MINUTES <br /> <br />DATE: October 6, 2011 <br />MEMBERS <br />PRESENT: M. Keller, L. Salzman, L. Thor, J. Stranik, L. Masonik <br />MEMBERS <br />ABSENT: J. Schwartz, B. Combs, D. Johnson <br /> <br />OTHERS <br />PRESENT: M. Divine, Paul Bengtson (part) <br /> <br />APPROVAL OF MINUTES <br />The minutes of July 14, 2011 were approved with one correction. <br /> <br />CONSIDERATION OF RECOMMENDATION REGARDING OUTDOOR STORAGE <br />IN LIGHT INDUSTRIAL <br />Planner Paul Bengtson explained to members that an issue has arisen regarding outdoor storage <br />in Light Industrial. The issue was instigated by a company moving into a building in the Apollo <br />Business Park and storing trusses outdoors. In Light and General Industrial, a business can apply <br />for a Conditional Use Permit to have outdoor storage, but not if the property is next to the <br />freeway or next to residential or rural. Those conditions are for protection of residents and <br />protection of aesthetics of the city. <br /> <br />The city has an interim use process for somebody doing a temporary principal use of outdoor <br />storage. Mr. Stranik said interim to him implied temporary in nature. Mr. Bengtson said the <br />interim use process requires that an end date be established. The applicant has asked for the <br />interim use permit to be amended to include accessory use of outdoor storage. This would open <br />up the opportunity for all the Light Industrial properties to come in and get this interim use <br />permit and be allowed outdoor storage. Staff does not support the idea of amending the <br />ordinance. The standards were put in place to produce value and improve the city’s C/I tax base. <br /> <br />Staff is recommending against the ordinance revision, believing that allowing outdoor storage <br />next to residential and the freeways is a step backward. Staff recommended five reasons why this <br />request should not be granted. 1) The city already allows outdoor storage in certain areas; 2) <br />screening can help alleviate the issue, but a fence itself is very visible and rarely aesthetically <br />pleasing, and doesn’t necessarily screen everything. 3) Outdoor storage creates noise impacts <br />that fencing can’t alleviate. 4) Temporary use is not necessarily temporary. When the business <br />comes in and asks for an extension, it’s more difficult to not renew what is now an existing <br />business. They will have invested in paving, fencing etc. If they sell the building, a new user is <br />going to expect the same right, and outdoor storage becomes the norm. 5) The economic <br />condition should not affect how the city should be built for the future. In 2003, architectural